I’m so excited because I am prepping for our first house guests. My mother in law, and her boyfriend are coming to visit us in our new home. Once friends find out you are staying in a destination/ tourist area, they all start lining up to visit, and I couldn’t welcome that more. I have been prepping the house to be more like a bed and breakfast, since I want our guests to feel special.

On one such trip to the local Bed Bath & Beyond, I was getting a few items for the guest room, and a Keurig marketer stopped me to ask me if I wanted a free cup of coffee. Did you say free? “Of course I’ll take something free,” said the self proclaimed frugal diva. 🙂 I chatted with her at first pretending to care about the Keurig spiel, nodding and thinking in my head that they placed her there to smooth over the bad PR from their new Keurigs that only brew actual K cups. However, while my inner dialogue progressed, I did begin to consider for the first time in my life, purchasing a Keurig.

I chose a chai latte as my free cup flavor, and since that particular flavor could not be found in regular coffee, or mixes at the grocery store, this may have had some bearing on my decision making process too. That chai latte was mighty tasty.

I began to research the new Keurigs, and was met with poor reviews about their monopoly on the the K cup market. Not my thing at all. I like my frugal options. So off to one of my handy dandy frugal sites… craigslist. I found several versions, and emailed a few people.

You see, since I predict I will have guests, (and I view my home to be like a bed and breakfast) I of course needed a coffee cart! And with my guests coming next Monday, I needed to put this baby together sooner, rather than later.

Luckily a woman emailed me back very quickly about a Keurig that was only 2 months old, still under warranty, and asking only 50% of what she paid. Sounded like a deal. We set up a time and place to meet.

I set my thoughts on how to decorate this cart, and realized…. I needed a cart. I looked on craigslist, but nothing close or affordable. I figured I would make due with some buildable wire storage crates, but this was less than ideal for me.

On my way to the bank to get cash, the house around the corner had something out by the curb. Freebie time! And I couldn’t believe my eyes when it was a laminate cart! It wouldn’t fit in the car or trunk easily, so since the bank is up the road I figured if it was there when I got back it was mine. On the way back to pick it up, the previous owner of the cart was out, and I asked if he was getting rid of it. He confirmed, so I popped that baby in the trunk and rode around the corner of our housing plan and unloaded it in our driveway. I was on cloud nine. It looked like this:

I got to work taking that extra extension off that was added with some lumber. I went later to get the Keurig, and came home to formulate a plan. First I got out a tea towel that had a coffee theme on it that was a bridal shower gift from my sister. It tied the colors together of the white and black keurig, and the wood.

Next I made a plan for one of my favorite stores. The dollar tree. Seriously, my husband says I should buy stock in it. I went the very next day, and found matching accessories to my kitchen.

The final result looks like this:

I was so excited about how it came together, I was jumping up and down. I love it when something just “poof” comes together, and cheaply too!

For a grand total of $80,(coffee not included) I put together a coffee and hot drink cart that hopefully my guests will love.

Breakdown is as follows:

Keurig: $60 craigslist

Dollar tree finds at $1 each: 6 mugs, blue containers, sugar dispenser, travel to go coffee cups, powdered creamer, caramel flavor, mini trash can, sugar packet container, plastic blue “milk jug” (was actually a kid cup with a silly straw), and the cutest coffee themed candle too. My sister told me she saw these at the dollar tree, and I was thrilled they had them at mine, AND that the font exactly matched the tea towel. Is it weird that totally made my day? I’m sure these are things no one else would get excited about….

Cart: FREE

I even love how the machine lights are blue, a happy coincidence that I hadn’t noticed or planned until I got it all put together!

To finish off the look I created a vintage coffee collage, which I still have to hang once I get a frame from… Dollar Tree!!! I’m thinking I may paint it blue, and distress it. Once it’s up I will update with a complete finished look.

Next time I’ll show you how the dollar tree helped me create a spa like guest bathroom too!